Young guns shine for Juve, Fiorentina
Two of Serie A’s brightest young talents were on full display when Juventus and Fiorentina each advanced to the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Paulo Dybala scored one goal and set up another as Juventus beat Atalanta 3-2, while Federico Bernardeschi converted a penalty in stoppage time as Fiorentina defeated Chievo Verona 1-0.
Champion Juventus will face AC Milan or Torino, while six-time champion Fiorentina’s next opponent is Napoli, which beat Serie B side Spezia 3-1 on Tuesday.
The other round of 16 matchups are: Inter Milan vs Bologna; Sassuolo vs Cesena; Lazio vs Genoa; Roma vs Sampdoria.
At Juventus Stadium, Dybala’s exploits made coach Massimiliano Allegri’s decision to rest Gonzalo Higuain pay off.
Mario Mandzukic nearly broke the deadlock in the early stages when he met a cross with his chest and the ball struck the post. Juventus then protested for an apparent penalty when Dybala was taken down a few minutes later.
Midway through the first half, the 23-year-old Dybala scored with a volley from outside the area. Twelve minutes later, he threaded a pass through to Mandzukic, who made it 2-0 with an angled shot.
After Dybala was taken off, the final 20 minutes proved nervous for Juventus.
Abdoulay Konko pulled one back for Atalanta in the 72nd minute, hammering in a shot off the inside of the post from the edge of the area. Goalkeeper Neto, starting in place of Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon, had no chance to stop the shot.
Three minutes later, Miralem Pjanic restored Juventus’ two-goal lead with a penalty after Stephan Liechsteiner was fouled inside the area.
Juventus hadn’t conceded two goals at home since drawing 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the Champions League nearly a year ago.
“We knew it would be a tough match,” Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli said. “We really risked a lot.”
Dybala and Bernardeschi will go head-to-head when Juventus visits Fiorentina on Sunday.